Dear Barua,
I sent in the article because it seems Weber has almost contradictory views on Buddhism than those often discussed here. In fact, I was surprised too at some of Weber's analyses and views.
In certain places, the article also claims that Buddha and Buddism was very much caste conscious. That kind of surprised me. I thought Buddhism at least was devoid of it. We know, Islam and Christianity (in India) do practice some form of casteism (and maybe not as rigidly as Hindus - but they do so.
For Instance:
"According to this Buddhist tradition, it is thanks to the gods and in a broader sense to the brahmanas"
or
"It seems to me that it is important to the present discussion that the early Buddhism did not worship the gods of the lower castes or the dalits but the gods of the higher castes. The gods of the lower caste people, like for example Shiva, were always a thorn in their flesh to them and to the non-Buddhist high castes
."
or
According to Buddha, and he proclaimed the point of view of his fellow class men, the Sakiyas, belonged to the mundane society of the brahmanas on the grounds of caste purity and mixing among the kshatriyas
According to this report the Buddhas belonged all to the high castes, to the kshatriyas and brahmanas. Buddha says proudly about himself "And now I, the venerable and fully enlightened one, was born a warrior and have come from the caste of warriors, o monks."
[22]
However, to Siddharta and the monks that listened to him, not only the varna, the hierarchical class but also the jati, the clan respectively the family were of substantial importance.
I very little knowledge of Buddhism to start with and hopefully you or others could clarify this dichotomy.
--Ram
On 3/28/06, Rajen Barua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
It is very difficult to summarize what exactly is his point.It is one of those articles which makes lot of noise but does not make any sound.RB----- Original Message -----From: Ram SarangapaniTo: ASSAMNETSent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 3:39 PMSubject: [Assam] Buddhism: An Atheistic and Anti-Caste Religion? - EdmundWeber
As we are discussing religions, I thought netters may be interested in what Weber has to say about Caste and atheism in Budhhhism. He has an interesting take.--Ram
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